Skipping Vista: Is Win7 the OS that XP Users Have Been Waiting For?

There are many loyal Windows XP fans out there, as evidenced by the fact that this newsletter is still going strong, almost two years after the release of its successor.

Although actually a good operating system, Vista got a bad reputation when many OEMs loaded it on low cost machines that were not capable of supporting Aero and further handicapped it by installing all sorts of "junkware," leading everyone who bought one to believe that the OS is slow and unreliable. In addition, most computers that came with Vista installed were running the Home Premium edition, which in my own experience is less stable than its fuller- featured siblings (Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions). It's no coincidence that most of the readers I hear from who run Vista Ultimate on mid to high powered desktops love it, whereas I hear all manner of complaints from folks running Vista Home Premium on low cost desktops or (even high cost) laptops.

Service Pack 1 fixed most of the real problems that were in the initial release, such as slow file copying over the network. Unfortunately, SP1 itself posed some problems for a small percentage of users, primarily because there were some device drivers it didn't support (although it also added compatibility with nearly 40,000 additional devices) and it also "broke" a few applications, mostly third party security suites (although it also improved compatibility with many other applications).

These problems weren't markedly different than the problems users experienced with Windows XP at initial release. To refresh your memory, here's a quote from the February 26, 2002 edition of WXPnews (back when my husband was writing the newsletter), titled "Holy Incompatibility! The Pain of a Windows XP Upgrade": "Last week I asked if you had problems with software and/or hardware when you upgraded to Windows XP. Wow! We were overwhelmed with responses from all of you who had compatibility problems with your previous hardware/software. The most frequent compatibility problems were seen with printers and scanners. But after that, it was all over the place." If you're feeling nostalgic, you can take a walk down memory lane here:
WXPnews

Further perusing the archives showed that the same thing happened when the first service pack for XP came out. I vividly remember all the people who refused to install it. This is from the September 17, 2002 newsletter: "Windows XP SP1 came out last Monday and I've been receiving tons of email about it. What are people saying about Windows XP SP1? It's about 40/60. Forty percent say Windows XP SP1 hasn't done anything bad to the computer and they can hardly tell the difference and 60% say Windows XP SP1 is the worst thing to happen to computers since the Melissa virus." And Tom even said, "I'm not installing SP1 on my computer until they come up with a fix. Microsoft has done this sort of thing before. A flawed service pack is released and later Microsoft comes out with an updated service pack to fix the first one. If you're a brave [soul] and like to gamble, then you might be able to get SP1 installed and even if it breaks your computer, you can use the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel to remove it." Read the entire article, which includes quotes from readers excoriating SP1, at
WXPnews

Despite all that, XP is today regarded as a wonderful OS and most folks gave in and installed SP1 and SP2 long ago (some are still wary of SP3). Vista is still getting bad press, though, and both individuals and companies are vowing they'll never use it. An organized campaign was launched to "save XP," as reported here and by many other sources, including the January 2008 New York Times:
The “Save XP” Petition - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com

And Microsoft listened, extending support for XP until 2014 (at which time it will be thirteen years old - which is ancient by operating system measures). But do you really want to continue to use XP for another five years? Even now, there are so many things you can do with Vista that you can't with XP. Just yesterday, Tom (who still uses XP as his primary OS) was suffering from gadget envy when I showed him a new, useful Vista gadget I had recently installed on my sidebar.

Now there's a solution on the horizon for all those folks who don't want Vista but don't want to be left completely behind. Windows 7, the details of which had been kept secret until now, is finally "out of the bag." Microsoft distributed a pre-beta build at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2008, held in Los Angeles October 27 through 30, and officially unveiled the next generation of the Windows desktop OS.

Since that time, numerous tech pundits have offered their appraisals of the new operating system. Even though this version is a very early build and feature incomplete, reviews have been surprisingly positive. Even many of the writers who were staunch Vista bashers seem to be impressed with Win7, and those who like Vista seem to adore Win7. ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes was shocked when he was able to install Windows 7 in 15 minutes after setting aside 45 for the task, and concludes - even at this early point - that Win7 is easier to use than both Vista and XP. You can read his full review here:
In-depth look at Windows 7 | Hardware 2.0 | ZDNet.com

Paul Thurrott calls Win7 "Vista done right." He notes that it has something to please everybody: Vista fans will love its familiarity and Vista haters will love the way Microsoft addressed the main complaints about Vista, such as in- your-face UAC and other usability issues. Read what he has to say here:
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows 7 Preview, Part 1: Let's Just Pretend Vista Never Happened, Shall We?

Cynics might say that we're just in the honeymoon stage with Win7, and that there was a great deal of excitement about Vista during its alpha and beta testing stages, too. That's true, but from what I've seen so far of Win7, Microsoft really has listened to customers' feedback and tried hard to give us the cool interface, enhanced security and advanced features of Vista without the issues that alienated users. Windows 7 just might be the operating system that will finally convince you to upgrade from XP.

Tell us what you think. Are you bound and determined to squeeze every last drop of life out of your XP OS? Or are you beginning to feel a little behind the times when you read about a cool new application or device and discover that it works only in Vista? Would you upgrade if you heard that the new OS looks a lot like Vista but is faster, more reliable and doesn't nag you to death with prompts every time you want to install a program? What's your wish list for Win7? What feature or characteristic would be most likely to make you want to upgrade? When do you anticipate finally giving up XP: when Win7 is released, when you buy a new computer, in 2014 when Microsoft stops supporting XP, or some other time? Tell us what you think